On October 4th, the New York Times ran a report by Nicholas Kristof in which he relays how two young Iraqi women in Bagdad told him they hate America and will do whatever they can to repel American invaders. He sagely concludes that the President is deluded if he thinks Iraqis will welcome American soldiers.

Six paragraphs later, buried in the middle of the story, he notes that foreign correspondents such as himself are accompanied at all times by a representative of the Iraqi government.

He then notes that anyone caught speaking in a manner considered traitorous is legally subject to having his tongue cut out.

The funniest part? I've seen at least one kneejerk Bush-basher quote this story at length, but omit that tongue bit.

Speaking of kneejerk Bush-bashers, this reminds me of the people who rant and rave because 20 years ago, the Centers for Disease Control shipped some samples of certain diseases to a university in Iraq. At least one person (not a basher) has emailed me to ask what I think of this. The answer is, "I don't know." Every report I've seen on it has been lacking in detail. How did it happen? Who exactly did it, and why? What exact bacteria were sent, and why would the (thoroughly civilian) CDC do such a thing? The CDC is not the Pentagon or the CIA. So, did the CDC have a program where they'd ship certain disease samples, no questions asked, to universities around the world? Were they ordered to do it, or was it some sort of bureaucratic SNAFU? I really don't know. I'd like to know.

But for some, such questions are irrelevant. This is proof, absolute gold standard proof, that the American government "supplied Saddam Hussein with chemical weapons." Research samples from the CDC = weapons shipments, period, end of discussion. Also, it proves that that Saddam Hussein did everything with our blessing and encouragement, and that we're only mad at him now because we're after his oil or something. We knew everything about him then that we know now, and no other questions need to be asked, really. And since Bush's father was Vice President when this happened, well, I mean really. That just tells you everything, right?

Apparently, for some people, all you need is inuendo. As long as you didn't vote for a guy, he is, ipso facto, evil. As is everyone who works for him or was ever associated with him. No slip of the tongue is anything but a lie; every disagreement is proof of your opponents' wickedness and stupidity; no confusion is anything other than incompetence or perfidy.

E Pluribus Unum? Heh. Heheheheh. Heh. It amazes me sometimes that we find a way to stick together as a nation, it really does.